Easter Island

The Supernovae Through the Ages Conference

was held on Easter Island, Chile on 8–13 August 2016
Scientific Program started on August 9th

Scientific Rationale

Supernova science has entered a golden age with daily announcements of new discoveries. This rate of discovery is only going to increase as we move to an era of large-scale non-targeted surveys, which will culminate with the LSST. In order to take advantage of this deluge of observations the community needs to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of data analysis techniques to ensure that optimal science is achieved. As supernova sample sizes continue to drastically increase, well-observed nearby events will still provide the most direct insights into progenitor properties and explosion mechanisms. Here, the challenge is to obtain multi-wavelength observations at epochs as early as possible post-explosion, where crucial constraints on physics are at their most powerful. This requires early automated classification, to select the optimal subset of supernovae for spectroscopic and photometric follow-up observations. The astrophysical implications when these challenges are overcome can often be strongly constraining on supernova theory and progenitors. Hence, new models and ideas are needed to understand the Universe through the eyes of these explosive events. The conference aims at addressing these challenges (and others) through ‘understanding the past to prepare for the future’. This will be achieved through a focus on past and present surveys, through to future facilities, while also addressing how the study of individual events is evolving to assure the maximum scientific output from explosions in our cosmic neighborhood. In addition, discourse will be included on explosion models, progenitors and their link to stellar evolution, our understanding of strange rare events within the growing diversity of SN classes, and the first supernova explosions in the Universe.

The conference celebrates the crucial contributions that Mark Phillips and Nicholas Suntzeff have made to this field. The meeting is being held on Easter Island, a place rich in history, which will be used to inspire the science discussed at the event, including an introductory talk on archeoastronomy of this unique culture.